“What does a small business have that a major corporation does not have?”

The short answer is that until the start of widespread technology adoption around 2008, small businesses had the upper hand in many ways. Examples are:

• Decisions could be made instantly
• They were in touch with their customers’ needs and understood their expectations
• They offered a personal service
• Their business was far more transparent than larger companies
• Staff felt their contribution was making a difference.
• Integrate new technologies quickly.

Since then big companies have been forced to consider these aspects of business management largely as a result of technological advancements. The advancements have removed geographical boundaries so there are far more competitors than previously. And, as technology changes every 18 months (Moore’s Law) new types of competition spring up every 18 months so competitors are unknown. At the same time, consumers are far wiser shoppers, their shopping habits have changed because of technologies, therefore their expectations are different. A familiar example, technology allows consumers to have something instantly by touching a button.
To survive businesses have employed skilled CTO’s over 10 years to adapt their business. Here are a few:

• Large head offices are being replaced by smaller, distributed offices that are managed entrepreneurially. That is, an office that can make fast decisions, are more in touch with customers on a local level.
• Large businesses are developing cultures of transparency and customer-centric value hence the explosion of surveys and feedback forms that keeps the company in touch with every customer, so personalise the service for each customer. It is this culture that staff buy into now, so feel their work makes a difference.

So, for the moment, what small businesses have is the ability to integrate new technologies quickly. Unfortunately, many small businesses, from the sole trader upwards, do not know how to use technologies in this way, or that it is a key advantage for them at the moment. In other words, small business could have the potential to offer all of the above faster than major corporations.

Published on Quora.